William the Conqueror: A Life From Beginning to End

by Hourly History

William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, permanently changing the landscape of the English countryside and the course of English history. No one debates his importance; whether the influence was good or bad is a much more involved conversation. To understand English history over time, it is important to understand the transition from Anglo-Saxon history of the country to the Anglo-Norman control that existed until approximately the fifteenth century.

- William the Bastard
- Claim to the English Throne
- Battle of Hastings
- English Resistance
- Revolt of the Earls
- The Death of William the Conqueror
And much more!

Learn about the transition of the Duke of Normandy from his early years as William the Bastard to his final years as King William I of England, often styled William the Conqueror. Gain an understanding of how the Norman occupation changed English culture, language, and sense of law, while also laying down the threads of conflicts that would continue for centuries. In this short history of William the Conqueror, the Battle of Hastings, and the influence of Norman presence in England, you will get a crash course in the early history of England as we understand it today.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, European History, Royalty, Ebooks

46 pages, Paperback

Published January 3, 2018

About the author

At Hourly History, we focus on publishing history books that are concise, straightforward and take no longer than one hour to read.

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Reviews

[Margaret Crampton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book gives a really good biography of William the Conqueror, and a feel for the situations in both France, particularly Normandy, (the place of his birth) and in Britain both before and after the conquest. The Norman conquest of Britain is described and the overthrow of Harald and crowning of William the conqueror. The historic significance of this, the only ever successful invasion of England is emphasized. Particularly interesting is the long term impact of this conquest and the reign of William 1st. I found fascinating the legacy of castles, unknown before, and the magnificent cathedrals built during the Norman period. I fully recommend this clever little book.

[Nihal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely written and covers the important stories of William's life. I think a bit more facts on his life would have been fine, as half of the book talks about medieval England.

[Ginger Zimmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent Sketch of William the Conqueror

This was a pretty decent sketch of the life of William the Conqueror. Not drowning in details, but enough details that you understand the basics of Williams’s life and legacy.

[Bettye McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new beginning

Just as centuries are dated from before and after the birth of Christ, so English history is dated from William the Conqueror. These were events which changed mankind.

With the arrival of William, the Anglo-Saxon way of life was no more. William did not permit any gainsayer to dispute his right to the English throne. It had been promised to him and he was going to have it. Several years at the beginning of his reign were spent putting down Anglo-Saxon rebellions.

Old laws were defunct. New laws were now in place. Women's rights were swept under the carpet; they no longer existed. Women could no longer own property, make contracts, have their own money, etc. Everything was under the control of men, be they father or husband.

3

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the previous royal biography I read by Hourly History this was a little rough, but readable, for the most part, and probably (hopefully) a good overview.

It had a few of the same editing issues (I was wondering who the heck "Bug William" was until I realized it should have been "But William...") and there was one section with a series of Roberts and Richards, and a Rollo, that was almost impossible for me to follow, especially once we got into how Rollo should probably have been Robert I and Robert I should have been Robert II and William II's father was Richard the Good and Richard II's father was Richard the Fearless and then they throw in some more Williams besides the William the Bastard (later, Conqueror) and man, I have no idea... Some people had kids and some of them got married and one of them had something to do with Edward the Confessor and yeah... (I got stuck on this section of the book and then didn't pick it up again for 4 days!)

But anyway, eventually I just kept reading and didn't worry about the family tree (a diagram of which, btw, would have made some of this a lot easier to follow) and got on to learning about the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings and the Normans and all the others. I have some pretty big gaps in my historical knowledge of this period, so getting a quick and dirty overview like this helped make sense of this period.

There were some pretty interesting conclusions drawn about how the Norman Conquest changed England and the language (the latter I know more about), turned England towards France and the Continent and away from their seafaring Northern neighbors, and made women's lives much worse thanks to stupid French laws.

But right at the end of the book the author mentions the Domesday Book for the first time without explaining what it was (which, isn't that very closely associated with the Norman Conquest?) and also talks about how tales about how Robin Hood has deeper political meanings around the Norman Conquest than most people see, and the story of King Arthur was changed by the influence of Norman knights --and that's it - no details! This, after Richard the Lionheart's book also failed to give me any insight into Robin Hood after mentioning it in the Introduction...

So, I did learn some stuff, but these books left me feeling frustrated. Don't mention something if you're not going to explain what you mean by it! I guess I need to go read more about Richard, Robin Hood, William, and probably King Arthur too.

[Erynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and Concise

This book goes into the history of William the Conqueror (no surprise there by the title). It had a couple spelling errors, but nothing distracting.

It provided a decent amount of knowledge of the Norman King William, famous for the year 1066. As someone who is not very well versed on British history, this book was perfect to give just enough about the Conqueror and even laid some groundwork if you wanted to dig deeper on your own.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Edward the Exile was completely glossed over - his son Edgar Aetheling became the rightful heir when Edward died after the family arrived back in England to meet Edward the Confessor. I feel like this is an important point because these two were the rightful heirs, whereas Harold, Harald, and William were not even close.

[Anil Swarup · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very very long ago that the British Isles were conquered. It happened way back on 1066 and this book is about the Duke of Normandy who conquered Britain. The book brings forth the events that led to this conquest and how and why the British regained the islands from heirs of William who fought among themselves and lost what William had won

[Charlie Steiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid basic overview

Did exactly what it said on the tin, a short overview of William the Conquerer. Some area’s were lightly touched upon whereas others went into much more detail, the balance was just right for a beginner in British history.

The book does leave me with many unanswered questions; I will look to seek these out in a longer more detailed book. 👍

[Vera Mottino · Rating 3 out of 5]

History in a nut shell, as usual

These "hour histories" do provide an outline of historical events summarized into the highpoint events of the period or of the protagonist's life. They are useful introduction as first steps into reading about history.

[KAREN RUTH ULLOM · Rating 3 out of 5]

A SCANT REVIEW OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 👑

Perhaps there is little recorded on the life of this king, but it would seem there should be more information written than what is included in this book/pamphlet. I was disappointed in the scant amount of facts included.

[mark leyshon · Rating 3 out of 5]

William the Conqueror: A life from beginning to end

Very basic, but enjoyable description of William The Conquerer and his effects on English and British life. However, there are a number of glaring errors in the book, such as the French invented castles!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hourly History" has to be the most appropriate title of all time. This takes about an hour to read and is jam-packed with interesting facts about William and his life. Lots of fun and a decent time waster.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be honest. I kinda found this boring at first. But then, omg, what an interesting character and time!!

[Fred Conrad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Except for the interesting part about building castles all over the place, it's mostly a long litany of names.

[Mary Pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is a wide variety of quality on this series. This particular one is poorly written and poorly edited.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing

So much of our English heritage traces back to this one man. Well-written and informative history. I love this series!

[David Laflin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another good read from Hourly History
Short and to the point makes easy reading

[Deborah Yunevich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and understand

Detailed when it needed to be and good coverage of William the Conquerors life. William accomplished a lot , although not all necessarily good.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed that the Doomsday Book and Robin Hood were briefly mentioned at the end with little explanation of their importance.

[mrs myra j haggerty · Rating 5 out of 5]

great life William 👍🏽

Really interesting 🤔 well worth giving this book a read 👍🏽 enjoy it when you read it makes you think what it would be like to live in that age 🤗

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent overview, but really very little information if you have any idea who this was when you started the book. Not a lot of details, but OK as a primer. The author makes a bunch of sweeping statements about how impacts can't be understated and whatnot, but then fails to provide any real concrete examples for a reader to sink their teeth into.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little book. This hourly series are worth checking out.

[Chris Passingham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Practically verbatim BBC Bitesize History. I could have written this.

[Maria Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical audiobook.